Biggest loser: Cheating as a newlywed, or on a spouse dying of cancer?

ByLori Stahl

May 24, 2012

Former presidential candidate and Sen. John Edwards arrives at a federal courthouse in Greensboro, N.C. (Chuck Burton/AP)

Although marital infidelity is nothing new on the campaign trail, the range of offenses and the creativity of the cover-ups have diversified since the pre-Gary Hart days when affairs were routinely ignored by the political press corps.

Today, of course, we’re at the opposite end of the spectrum, with the jury literally out in the trial of former senato John Edwards in Greensboro, N.C. His long-suffering daughter Cate, 30, has been at his side, an embodiment of her late mother, Elizabeth Edwards, who suffered severe collateral damage from her husband’s affair with Rielle Hunter.

Although John Edwards is on trial for allegedly violating campaign finance laws in the process of hiding the affair, interest is no doubt stoked by the prospect of a harsh reckoning for someone who cheated on his wife while she was battling terminal cancer.

But is John Edwards the worst offender among the fraternity of rogue political husbands? Consider the competition:

3. Cheating on your wife without making your staff complicit, as former S.C. governor Mark Sanford did. He told aides he was hiking the Appalachian Trail solo while actually in Argentina with his “soulmate.” (Add 10 points for using the word “soulmate.”)